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STEPHEN DECATUR CHAPTER
NATIONAL SOCIETY DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
Decatur, Macon County, IL

This page updated October 11, 2002

GRAVES of
MARILLA MARTIN BAKER and MARY MARTIN DAVIS

Daughters of Josiah Martin, Revolutionary Soldier

Marked June 2, 1935


   

MARILLA MARTIN
BAKER
DAUGHTER OF
A REVOLUTIONARY
SOLDIER
ERECTED BY THE
STEPHEN DECATUR CHAPTER
D.A.R.

****

MARY MARTIN DAVIS
DAUGHTER OF
A REVOLUTIONARY
SOLDIER
ERECTED BY THE
STEPHEN DECATUR CHAPTER
D.A.R.


MARILLA MARTIN BAKER
September 29, 1799 - August 28, 1893

MARY McDOWELL MARTIN DAVIS
November 15, 1806 - January 29, 1889

Both are buried in North Fork Cemetery in Decatur, Macon County, Illinois.


Excerpts from the history read on June 2, 1935, by Mrs. Marilla Martin Dennis Cobb, at the marking of the graves of Marilla Martin Baker and Mary Martin Davis.

REMINISCENCES

In preparing this short history of the lives of two daughters of the American Revolution, much help has been obtained from articles written by my Uncle Rev. N.M. Baker, Miss Clara Baker, and Mrs. Emma Corman, as well as from stories related by my mother, Lavena Baker Dennis. Having lived one spring school term in the home of Grandfather and Grandmother Baker, I learned much of their life and of Uncle David and Aunt Polly Davis' family life.

Josiah Martin and Mary McClarey were married in Mecklenburg County, NC., and lived there until 1803. Marilla Martin was born there in 1799, a few months after the death of George Washington. Mary McDowell Martin was born in 1806 after the family had moved to Rutherford County, Tennessee.

Marilla and William Davis Baker, a second cousin, were married in 1823. One year later Mary Martin was married to David Davis, a first cousin. Strange to relate William Baker and David Davis were second cousins. This family inter-marriage was not uncommon in that early day.

In 1828 when there were two children in the Baker family and one in the Davis family, it was decided to leave the familiar associations in Tennessee and move to Illinois where some friends were pioneering. Their reasoning was good. While living in comfort in the older state, land was high-priced, and homes with slaves to do the work were beyond their means. The desire of opportunity for their children impelled them to seek homes in new territory. Both men, being carpenters, considered themselves able to make homes in the wilderness.

In the autumn of 1828 they set out in one wagon with at least two teams of horses. Like the Mayflower, that wagon carried an almost unbelievable amount of goods, farming implements, carpenter's tools, a few chairs, dishes, cooking utensils, feather beds, and women's hope chests full of linen, home-made blankets, quilts, counterpanes, and clothing.

It was a slow journey over unknown roads and swollen streams. Camp was made by the wayside each night when darkness caused a halt. Supper was by the campfire, and a tallow candle held in place by a two-tines fork, stuck into a tree, threw a faint light in addition to the fire.

One morning the trek was resumed. When a mile from the camp, someone remembered the fork left in the tree. The turn was made, the long mile retraced, and the fork rescued. We grandchildren always looked upon that much traveled fork with a kind of awe.

Sometime in November the caravan arrived at the Ward settlement. Finding a vacant cabin, it was decided to pass the winter among friends. Tradition reports that dwelling a makeshift only, but much more comfortable than camping in the open until timbers could be cut and prepared and a log-house built.

In the spring the men made a trip to locate land desirable for home, finally settling upon land which is still owned by some of their descendants. One room log houses were built. Their houses were the first in Long Creek Township. Springfield was the nearest market and post office. When a grist mill was established on the river bank five or six miles from the farms, there was general rejoicing. Gradually more families came to the Long Creek neighborhood.